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AIFF, sexual harassment and all the president’s men | Football News

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In AIFF, every sexual harassment complaint starts by causing a huge uproar and making the necessary noise, only to be swept under the carpet within a few days.

AIFF, sexual harassment and all the president's men

The AIFF has received several sexual harassment complaints over the years. Photo:@Indianfootball

New Delhi: When an alleged sexual harassment complaint surfaces in cricket, the all-powerful CEO of the Board of Control for Cricket in India runs for cover and ultimately drops his complaint. If it happens in wrestling, the head of the Wrestling Federation of India will be in big trouble in court.

The rules of the game seem to be different in Indian football. Not today, but over the years. In the All India Football Federation, every sexual harassment complaint starts by creating a big ruckus and making the necessary noise, which is then swept under the carpet within a few days. An AIFF employee’s recent complaint about sexual harassment in her workplace met her Waterloo faster than even the association’s standard.

A third time in three years

In 2021, after certain social media posts alleged that the then AIFF CEO had sexually harassed not one but two female employees at the Football House in Dwarka, the association bosses quickly convened a meeting of the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC ) to investigate this The reason. The ICC, the majority of whose members were Football House employees working under the CEO against whom the allegations were made, met and quickly cleared the top official of all charges.

In 2022, a coach of an AIFF women’s national team was charged with sexual harassment of an underage female footballer, which was considered a serious offence. As usual, the AIFF flexed its muscles, sacked the coach and lodged a police complaint. That’s where the story ended, no one knows what happened to the complaint and how it was investigated.

However, the latest one has broken all previous records. Raising questions about the nature of the complaint, the AIFF’s ICC said: “The current allegations regarding breach of confidentiality and IT policies, if any, do not fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.”

Taking note of this, the AIFF announced that it has contacted the Cyber ​​Crime Unit of the Delhi Police. Acting general secretary M. Satyanarayan said: “We are fully committed to maintaining the integrity and confidentiality of all our employees, which we value highly.”

The root cause remains in the background

It began in the third week of March 2024 when a woman employee of the AIFF complained that she was regularly sexually harassed and “inappropriately touched” by a senior official of the AIFF.

After much back and forth, the ICC meeting was called by the acting general secretary of the AIFF. Although the employee had previously submitted a signed statement, she ultimately backed out and said she was unwilling to move forward with the complaint. The ICC rightly declared on April 3, 2024 that it had closed the case in the absence of an official complaint.

It wasn’t all. In the first week of May, a video surfaced on social media in which the complainant claimed that she was not suitable for the role assigned to her in the AIFF. The narrator in the video presented her CV and wondered how she managed to get the job at AIFF. The video showed some emails exchanged between the human resources department and the acting general secretary of the AIFF and even quoted private conversations between the employee and him.

A few days later, the employee filed a complaint with the ICC entitled: Complaint of breach of confidentiality and harassment. While she complained about the disclosure of her personal details, she directly linked the issue to the sexual harassment she faced in the office and alleged that at least three senior officials of the AIFF were involved in leaking her CV and official emails. Emails were involved.

The role of the AIFF ICC here remains enigmatic. In the new complaint to the ICC, she attached her previous complaint of sexual harassment, making it official. But the ICC never took up the matter and walked away from the matter on the grounds that breaches of confidentiality and IT policies do not fall within its purview. The AIFF also conveniently remained silent and did not bother to forward the complaint to its ethics committee for consideration.

Dear untouchables

The staffer also made serious allegations of favoritism against the acting secretary-general, saying it was because of him that no action was taken against three specific people who she said were responsible for sexual harassment or leaking of her personal information. She claimed that she was informed by the ASG that these three people were close to the AIFF president and should not be disturbed.

“The ASG asked me not to point out to these three employees that they did not request leave, arrive late to the office or respond to their actions, adding:”Inko chorh dijiye, baaki employees can tight karke rakhiye“(Leave her alone, but tighten the screw on others),” she wrote, writing in bold: “I am attacked internally and constantly harassed as a female employee.”

Clarification from AIFF

Satyanarayan vehemently denied that there was a concerted effort to cover up the matter, pointing out that since the complaint surfaced, he had chaired a meeting of AIFF department heads, called an ICC meeting and now, after the new After a complaint was received, Zelle contacted the cyber agency.

“What else can I do? The first time she did not file the complaint with the International Criminal Court and it was only at my urging that the matter went to the committee and when that happened she did not press charges,” he said News9 Sports.

“The ICC is an independent body and the AIFF does not interfere in its functioning. It was her decision to retire.

“No attempts were made to hush up the matter and for that they should be grateful to the AIFF. We are waiting for the report from the cyber cell and will act accordingly.”

Instead of making allegations of favoritism and harassment, it should acknowledge the corrective measures taken by the AIFF, Satyanarayan said.

“Basically, I’m stuck in the crossfire. Most of what she says is hearsay and there is no physical evidence to support her claims. She should be grateful to the AIFF for all that has been done so far to address the issue.”

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